U.S. ROUTE 85

'U.S. Route 85' is a north-south United States highway that runs for 1,479 miles (2,380 km) in the Midwestern United States. The southern terminus of the route is at the United States-Mexico border in El Paso, Texas, connecting with Mexican Federal Highway 45. The northern terminus is at the United States-Canada border in Fortuna, North Dakota, where the route continues north as Saskatchewan Highway 35.

Contents

Route description

Texas

New Mexico

Colorado

Wyoming

South Dakota

North Dakota

Major intersections

See also

Related U.S. Routes

References

Route description

The highway passes through Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, South Dakota, and North Dakota.

Texas

U.S. 85 in Texas begins at the United States/Mexico border with U.S. Route 62 and travels north through El Paso. It then splits from U.S. 62 and travels northwest along the Rio Grande until it joins with I-10 until the New Mexico border.

New Mexico

U.S. 85 in New Mexico is entirely concurrent with Interstate Routes. For the first 20 miles it is co-signed with I-10. It then continues north for the remainder of its time in New Mexico co-signed with I-25. [1]

Colorado

U.S. 85 enters Colorado from New Mexico co-signed with I-25 and remains that way until just south of Denver at exit 184. From there it heads west and north as a two lane rural highway. It becomes an expressway near Chatfield Lake and the southern Denver suburbs of Littleton and Englewood. It continues north through Denver for a few miles before once again joining with I-25 at mile marker 207. There it becomes a concurrency with U.S. Route 87 as well as I-25 and heads north through downtown Denver. At exit 214 U.S. 85 turns east and becomes a concurrency with Interstate 70 and U.S. Route 6 for about a mile where it exits with U.S. 6 and heads northeast through Commerce City. In just a few miles the U.S. 6/U.S. 85 concurrency merges with Interstate 76 at mile marker 9. They travel concurrently for 3 miles until exit 12 when U.S. 85 becomes an expressway and continues north out of the Denver area through Brighton. From here it parallels I-25 for about 75 miles passing through Platteville, Greeley, and Eaton before crossing into Wyoming.

Wyoming

U.S. 85 enters Wyoming from Colorado 8 miles south of Cheyenne. In Cheyenne it joins with Business Route 87, and a mile later with Interstate 180 until it meets with U.S. Route 30. The segment with I-180 is noteworthy as it is the only fully at grade interstate route in the U.S. [2] At exit 12 it joins with I-25 and U.S. Route 87 in a concurrency for 5 miles until U.S. 85 leaves at exit 17 and travels northeast towards Meriden. From there it heads north to Torrington where it meets with U.S. Route 26 and concurrencies for 10 miles until Lingle. 47 miles later it meets U.S. Route 20 and U.S. Route 18 at Lusk. It shares the next 47 miles with U.S. 18 and 33 miles later meets U.S. Route 16 near Newcastle. From here it is 29 miles until it enters South Dakota in the Black Hills.

Major cities
★ El Paso, Texas ★ Albuquerque, New Mexico ★ Pueblo, Colorado ★ Colorado Springs, Colorado ★ Denver, Colorado ★ Greeley, Colorado ★ Cheyenne, Wyoming ★ Spearfish, South Dakota ★ Belle Fourche, South Dakota ★ Williston, North Dakota

South Dakota

The South Dakota section of U.S 85., with the exception of two concurrencies with U.S. 14 Alternate and a concurrency with Interstate 90, is defined at South Dakota Codified Laws § 31-4-181.^[2]
U.S. 85 enters the Black Hills from Wyoming and travels northeast until it meets with U.S. 14 Alternate east. The two routes form a concurrency from there until I-90 where U.S. 85 overlaps for 8 miles while heading west. At exit 10 U.S. 85 heads back north towards Belle Fourche where it crosses U.S. 212. From there it continues to North Dakota passing only through the small towns of Redig, Buffalo, and Ludlow.

North Dakota

U.S. 85 enters North Dakota in the southwest part of the state. The first city on its route is Bowman at the junction of U.S. Route 12. Near Amidon it heads east for 9 miles before going back north along the Little Missour National Grassland for about 125 miles. Near Belfield it junctions with Interstate 94. Then, at Watford City it travels west for 16 miles where it turns back north before Alexander. South of Williston it crosses the Missouri River. A few miles later it meets with U.S. Route 2 where the two overlap for 19 miles as an expressway, which now bypasses Williston to the northwest. After U.S. 2 heads east U.S. 85 continues north to a concurrency with North Dakota Highway 5. From there it is 7 miles to Fortuna where U.S. 85 heads back north for its remaining 6 miles to the U.S./Canada border.

Major intersections

★ U.S. Highway 2 north of Williston, North Dakota

★ Interstate 94 exit 42 at Belfield, North Dakota

★ U.S. Highway 12 in Bowman, North Dakota

★ U.S. Highway 212 in Belle Fourche, South Dakota

★ Interstate 90 and U.S. Highway 14 in Spearfish exit 10

★ U.S. Highway 385 in Deadwood, South Dakota

★ U.S. Highway 14 in Deadwood, South Dakota

★ U.S. Highway 16 in Newcastle, Wyoming

★ U.S. Highway 18 west of Edgemont, South Dakota

★ U.S. Highway 20 in Lusk, Wyoming

★ U.S. Highway 26 in Lingle, Wyoming

★ U.S. Highway 87 north of Cheyenne, Wyoming

★ U.S. Highway 30 in Cheyenne, Wyoming

★ Interstate 80 in Cheyenne, Wyoming

★ U.S. Highway 34 in Greeley, Colorado

★ U.S. Highway 6 and Interstate 76 north of Denver, Colorado (they are paired with U.S. 85)

★ U.S. Highway 36 and Interstate 270 north of Denver, Colorado (paired together)

★ Interstate 70 in Denver, Colorado

★ U.S. Highway 40 and U.S. Highway 287 in Denver, Colorado (paired together)

★ Interstate 25 south of downtown Denver, Colorado (intersects with I-25/US-87)

★ U.S. Highway 285 in Englewood, Colorado

★ U.S. Highway 24 in Colorado Springs, Colorado

★ U.S. Highway 50 in Pueblo, Colorado

★ U.S. Highway 160 near Walensburg, Colorado

★ U.S. Highway 350 in Trinidad, Colorado

★ U.S. Highway 64 in Raton, New Mexico

★ Interstate 40 in Albuqurerque, New Mexico

★ Interstate 10 and U.S. Highway 70 in Las Cruces, New Mexico

★ U.S. Highway 62 in El Paso, Texas

See also

Related U.S. Routes

★ U.S. Route 185

★ U.S. Route 285

★ U.S. Route 385

★ U.S. Route 485

References

1. Droz, Robert V. U.S. Highways : From US 1 to (US 830). URL accessed 02:55, 4 July 2006 (UTC).
2. [3]